AU Border Workshop Underway

A two-day workshop on African Union Border Programme to assist African coastal and Island States to develop the required capacity for the delimitation of their maritime spaces has commenced in Accra.

The workshop, attended by representatives of ECOWAS states, European Commission, and ambassadors, became necessary when about 38 African countries, in their attempt to define their maritime space, made a submission on the limits of the continental shelf.

With the objective of sensitizing policymakers and experts from the AU member states on issues relating to maritime spaces, participants will also explore modalities for creating capacity for delimitation, boundary negotiation and resource management.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Henry Ford Kamel, noted that article four, annex II of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea enjoins coastal states to make submissions to the commission on the limits of the continental shelf (CLCS) in respect of the extension of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.

He assured participants that government will do what it takes to support the AU commission towards the implementation of the African Union border programme.

“Since African countries gained independence, the borders which were drawn during the colonial period, in a context of rivalries between European countries and their scramble for territories in Africa, have been a recurrent source of conflicts and disputes in the continent.”

He noted that most of the borders are poorly defined with the location of strategic natural resources in cross border areas posing additional challenges.

It is against this background that member states adopted a number of political and legal instruments to guide their efforts in the management of border issues.

By Linda Tenyah